FOOTNOTES:
[83] Told by Strike-Enemy.
82. THE TALE OF A MEMBER OF THE BEAR SOCIETY.[84]
You heard what my father said about my belonging to the Bear Society. It is true. I used to stay in the medicine-men’s lodge and inside of the Bear’s lodge. I learned many things about the mysteries of the Bear Society. My father gave me a bear skin that was stuffed, so that it was like a bear. When we had a Bear dance my little bear used to be placed on the south side of the lodge and I would be placed opposite. When the singing for dancing was begun I danced, and as I danced I would notice my little bear doing the same thing that I was doing. If I moved my head sidewise, it would do the same thing. If I raised up my arms towards the sky, the little bear would do the same thing. People saw it. I kept the bear a long time. Only a few years ago it became spoiled. The little bear, which was part of my life, was now old, so that the hide was easily torn. My father thought it was best to dispose of it, so one day we took the little bear yonder among those hills, and we placed it in a ravine, where there was a bush of choke-cherries, and there we left it.
Some years ago one of my friends, a young man who was a great hunter, asked me to go hunting with him, and I agreed to go. I caught my pony and saddled it. This pony was a good runner. At this time there were many Sioux in our country, so I had to be careful which pony I rode while hunting. I took upon my pony some things to eat, and a rifle that my father had given me. I had also many cartridges. The other young man came to my lodge, and I was surprised to see him upon a white pony, which I knew could not run. I tried to persuade him to get a better pony, but he would not change, for the white pony, he said, would not run away. We started and crossed the Missouri River. We went over yonder hills. We started early in the morning and we went far over those hills. We did not see any deer all day. Towards evening we got to a draw, where there were some trees. There we unsaddled our ponies and made camp. We lariated our ponies some distance from where we were. Far into the night I heard the horses snorting. I reached for my gun, went to the other man, and tried to wake him. He was sleeping soundly, so I left him and crawled up to where the ponies were, dragging my gun as I went on. I noticed that there was a man standing in the shadow of a hill. My pony kept on snorting. I saw the man, so I crawled back to our place and woke my friend. We crawled up to the ponies, and as we approached them we saw the man coming. The pony was now snorting furiously. I told the other man to have his gun ready; that I would go up and meet the man; that if he should see anything wrong he should shoot. I rose and walked toward the man. As I rose the man ran, and as it was moonlight we knew from his running that he was a Scalped-Man. We had heard of this man wearing a wolf hide, so we let him go, and we went back to our camp. I told my friend that he could sleep and I would watch the rest of the night, for I could not go to sleep. The next morning, while I was dishing out some pemmican, I told my friend that I had always had a liking for bears; and that I would like to see one. He promised to let me see one.
After we had eaten a bite we went on further west. We found some deer. My friend thought that he, being an experienced hunter, could kill where others could not. He shot at the deer several times, but he never killed any. He was discouraged. We saw a deer at a distance. I then asked if I might try my luck on this fine deer. He allowed me to shoot at it. We were out of meat, and I was very hungry for fresh meat. As I neared the deer I crawled up to it and shot it. I broke both of its hind legs, so that it could not run. We killed it, then went into camp again. That night we had to watch, for we were now in a country where there were many rattlesnakes. The next morning we went further west into canyons, where we had to watch every step we took, for there were many rattlesnakes. The other man did not seem to care about them, but I did. I would not go any further, for I was afraid of snakes. I returned to our camp. I heard several shots, and after a while I saw my friend coming. He had killed three deer. We took our ponies and brought the meat to our camp. The next day we started for home. On our way home I saw at long distance what seemed to be a horse. I told my friend. As we went nearer to the supposed horse I saw that it stood up like a man. I told my friend about it. He looked, and said that it was a bear, saying, “Here is a chance for you to see a bear.” We now unloaded our ponies. He told me to remain behind with the meat and his pony, for he rode my pony, taking his rifle with him. I saw him coming back, for the bear was now after him. The bear ran back, and I saw a young bear sitting at a distance. The bear got to its young and embraced it, as much as to say, “My child, we are lost.” Then my man went for it again. He shot at it, but still the bear would run after him. Finally the man ran the bear towards me, and I got upon the pony’s back and I had to whip the pony hard to make it go. I felt scared, for if the bear had kept on after me it would have got me. The bear ran back to its young, so I felt safe. My friend now attacked the bear, and he shot at it, hitting it. The bear ran after the man, but it turned back and went into the brush. We went down, and found a pond on the side of the brush, where the bear had gone. I undressed, took only my knife, and waded into the pond. My man remained on the side of the pond, ready to shoot the bear, and was telling me that as soon as the bear jumped at me I should dive, and keep on in the same direction. I crossed the pond and found the bear sitting in the bushes. The bear was dead. We skinned it, taking only the hide. When a bear is skinned and stretched out it is the perfect image of a man.
I mounted my pony and we went on. I attacked the young bear, ran into the brush and got hold of the bear. I tried to get my man to bring my lariat rope, so I could rope it and lead it to the village. I became tired, so I called out to my man to shoot it. He would not do it, so I took my knife and stabbed the young bear and killed it. I skinned it. Now I had two hides. I tried to put the large hide upon my pony, and the pony snorted at it. I finally gave the hide to my friend. I did wrong, for I should have asked him to put the hide upon his pony for me. He did not belong to the Bear Society, notwithstanding he was thankful for the hide. The little bear hide I put upon the pony. My father scolded me for giving the bear hide away. My little bear hide was of good size. My father had it tanned for me, and the hide was also decorated with paint. The bear hide also had a soft, feathery appearance about its head. I wore it in dances, and kept it by my pillow in our lodge. Only a few years ago I was visiting the Sioux, and while I was gone some white man came to our village. He saw the bear robe in our lodge. He asked how much they wanted for the hide, and my bear was sold to some white man. When I came back home I missed my bear, and asked where it was. My folks said, “We sold it to a white man.” I was sorry, but it was all right, for we do not have any more Bear dances.